Last Thursday, Brendan and I both had the day off. I spent the morning catching up on all my favorite blogs and I read Emily Henderson’s How to Find the Perfect Leather Sofa. Her guide is great and it totally made me want a vintage leather couch. Side note: the first photos in that post are hilarious!

I never thought I would actually want a leather sofa because they are so hard to find in just the right style and not to mention expensive. So here stood my conditions: vintage or perfectly worn, not overstuffed, straight lines, fits my budget, and had some interest (i.e. nailhead trim). Hence why I’ve never bought a sofa, those conditions are super unlikely.

Welp, until Thursday that is. I talked B into taking a trip to Goodwill and one vintage shop (those were the conditions since vintage furniture hunting isn’t exactly his thang). We stopped in one of my favorites, Get Back Vintage. The shop owner, Jenny, is the only one that works there and she’s got super reasonable prices for Austin. I walked around the back and took a peek in her back room.

There it was. Covered in a drop cloth and that perfect nailhead trim poking out.

I asked Jenny if it was still available and if I could take a look at it. When she said yes, I’m pretty sure you could see my heart pounding. But I knew deep down that I wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Then, she told me the price was $550 and she would cover the tax. Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that! I grabbed Brendan and had him come check it out. He was sold. Perfect.

That night I got on Pinterest and typed in leather sofa just to see if I could find the source of this couch. Turns out it’s $3000 (!!!) from Robert Redford’s Sundance Catalog. So it’s not vintage leather, but it’s worn and perfect.

Don’t get me wrong $550 is a huge amount of money for us right now. But, this was an investment. It’ll be around forever and will most likely always have a place in our home.

Welcome to So Eclectic

So Eclectic is a blog dedicated to great ideas for home design. Austin, Texas-based writer Mary Marcum and Savannah, Missouri-based writer Jess Rezac feature affordable decor, decorating solutions, and inspiration. At So Eclectic, we experiment with design together. So Eclectic posts new content every weekday.